Nikita Recommends: Five Summer Road Trip Reads

The summer sun precipitates our inner adventurer, and with it, a lightened workload. For the students out there, summer means closing the textbooks and finishing the novels we’ve picked up over and over again. For the worker bees, summer reads accompany us on the road as we take well deserved vacations and venture to the spots we’ve been meaning to explore.

Whether you’re roadtripping, traveling by plane, or just hanging around this summer, here are five books you won’t regret adding to your list of “must reads”.

1. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing is by no means a “light summer read”, but one you won’t regret picking up. This novel examines 300 years of history in Ghana while still bringing the impact of that history to present day. Following the fate of two sisters, one sold into the slave trade by the British Empire, the other married into wealth and prosperity, author, Yaa Gyasi, succinctly and beautifully portrays how history is never really history.

2. I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillan

I Almost Forgot About You is your classic summer read, indulgent and fun. This novel follows the story of Dr. Georgia Young as she escapes the seemingly perfect life she’s built for herself for a chance at the life and version of herself she’s always wanted. Quitting her job and moving houses has the potential to give Georgia second chance at love and the whirlwind adventure she never got to have.

3. This Too Shall Pass by Milena Busquets

Main character, Blanca, experiences the loss of her mother. In a time of immense grief and loss she is faced with the shocking reality that her future is seemingly empty. Blanca packs up, and heads to the coast with her most beloved companions to find out what it means to live life on her own terms.

4. The Girls by Emma Cline

The Girls is a coming of age story following Evie’s quest for adulthood as she is lured into the soon-to-be famous cult of Charles Manson. What Evie doesn’t realize is that as she ventures deeper into her new found community, she gets closer than she could have ever imagined to a brutal fate and unthinkable violence.

5. The Island Within by Richard K. Nelson

As cliche as it may be, Richard K. Nelson sends his main character to an island off the coast of Alaska to ‘find himself’. However, The Island Within is not your average story of self discovery. The imagery alone in this novel stands the test of time, written in the late 80’s, this might just be the perfect book to amplify your summer experience.